This was the first time for the Defeated Revives Survival Elimination Match (rules again were: 4 vs 4, eliminations done by pin, submission and over the top rope, when someone is eliminated they have to wait for a “penalty time” before they can come back into the match, if a team eliminates all four of their opponents before the next “penalty time” passes then that team wins).
After the DRSE Gamma and Mochizuki continued to argue which will lead to the number 1 contender match for the Open the Dream Gate title at Korakuen Hall. It also seems that Doi is challenging Arai for a one on one match.
After the main event World 1 looks to challenge Blood Warriors for the Open the Triangle Gate titles.

Reminder the gaijin team of Ronin (Chuck Taylor, Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano) will make their debut in Dragon Gate and start their tour of Japan at Korakuen Hall 3/1/11. Also the Open the Brave Gate title is on the line and the #1 Contender for the Open the Dream Gate title will be decided as well.

(1) Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. Rikiya FudoWinner: Fudo (8:12) following a Lariat.
(2) Minoru Fujita, Diamond Konley & Kenta Kakinuma vs. Magnitude Kishiwada, Takuya Sugawara & Nick PrimoWinner: Sugawara (18:22) following the John Woo to FFF to Fujita.
(3) KAMIKAZE & Sito Ueda vs. Zuffa & BuffaWinner: Buffa (14:33) with the Samoan Press to Ueda.
(4) Shinjiro Otani vs. Fujita “Jr” HayatoWinner: Otani (10:11) with the Spiral Bomb.
(5) Masato Tanaka vs. Ikuto HidakaWinner: Tanaka (16:48) following the Sliding D.
(6) Ryouji Sai vs. Kohei SatoWinner: Sato (18:26) via referee stoppage (cross armbar).~ This is weird for their to be a clean loss for the next challenger for the main belt. But following the match a man in a white appeared and attacked Sato. He removed the mask to show that he was none other than Atsushi Sawada. Sawada of course has a shot at the NWA Tag Team titles on 3/6.
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This edition of the Puroresu Spirit Podcast, Joshua Shibata and myself cover New Japan Pro Wrestling and what could possibly be the year to come.
We look at a majority of the promotion that is the company now and try to lay something down to help you gain some knowledge into what is going on and the talent themselves involved.

This whole show is pretty much a build up to what is going to happen at the 2/20 Sendai show. Most of the matches will be reflecting on who faces who and a taste of what will be happening come the 2/20. So as I watch this show I will be trying to show some of the build up for the upcoming PPV as well as putting some insight into the show in general.

(1) Tomoaki Honma vs. Kyosuke Mikami~ Didn’t make it to the tv edit. (2) Jushin Thunder Liger, Kohji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask IV vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Jado & Gedo~ Ishii and Tiger have had it out as of late, and mainly involves Ishii trying to remove Tiger Mask’s mask. These two had an encounter at the 1/23 CMLL/NJPW in which it saw Ishii lose the mask vs. hair match. Ishii though didn’t appear at the next show with a bald head, but wearing a black version of Tiger Mask mask. This in turn has created a whole new set up between the two and almost makes this feud seem like it is never going to end.
This was a descent opener for the tv show, ad it definitely builds up for the PPV. I’d say definitely worth seeing just to get an idea on what is happening between these two.
Following the match Tiger Mask announced that he will be yet again be putting his mask on the line against Ishii, who I call “CHAOS” Tiger now, on the 2/20 PPV. This is aiming to be the final encounter between this two with a seemingly big ramification on the shoulders of Tiger Mask. Could we foresee the fall of the Tiger Mask IV or will Ishii finally be left with nothing following this match? (3) Manabu Nakanishi, Strongman & King Fale vs. Giant Bernard, “The Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga~ Muscle Orchestra made it through Wrestle Kingdom V without being pinned which gives themselves another shot at the IWGP Tag Team belts which are still around the waist of Bad Intentions. The “favorite” team in Japan Nakanishi & Strongman may have the popularity, but Bernard & Anderson say they have the fight. So this match happened as a taste of what could happen come 2/20 and it was an alright match, the fans seemed to be behind it. Personally I am not that much behind Strongman, but I am all for Nakanishi getting a tag title shot. Strongman has not been known as the sound wrestler in the past, but the fans seem to not care and just like seeing a big burly guy in the ring. I would say that this match could be a skip if you are not fully into Muscle Orchestra, but I believe the WK V match may have been a little better.

Following the match we have another match made as NOAH’s Takashi Sugiura who is sitting at ringside makes a staredown challenge to Giant Bernard as the next person who he would like to defend his GHC Heavyweight Championship against. Bernard accepts and has plays up that Sugiura just woke a sleeping dog and that is a mistake he better be ready to deal with. Sugiura then says that he is looking to face Bernard and that he is looking at the biggest man in Japan to go toe to toe with in the ring. (4) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tohru Yano & Takashi Iizuka~ This was a descent match in my opinion, the action stayed on point and was pretty fluid throughout. Tenzan and Iizuka kept their long feud going and I don’t know the match just clicked well in my opinion. Sure there could be better matches, but this was fun. Not sure what story lines could stem from this other than Nagata vs. Nakamura being a possibility down the road. Though the fued between Seki-gun and CHAOS will meet again come the 2/20 show. (5) IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship Match: Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi [c] vs. Taichi & NOSAWA Rongai~ A Match that was originally going to be NOSAWA & TAKA Michinoku, but due to TAKA dislocating his shoulder a week before this match he was forced to sit this one out. Taichi was quickly announced as the replacement and the title match was still to happen. This match actually turned out to be a lot better than I originally expected. There was a few off points, but NOSAWA and Taichi faired their own in this match. This match picked up once Devitt got the hot tag and was pretty descent and the worst probably came at the end with an off pin. (6) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito~ This was a good match in my opinion. Some good stiff moments, and it reminded me why I think Naito is on the verge of being one of the top names in the promotions very shortly. Just the way he carries himself I just really seem to enjoy it. This match was enjoyable I thought and had mixed reactions because with Naito he is so over as a fan favorite that playing a heel is just kind of off. It doesn’t matter what he does in the ring the people just seem to keep loving him. Yujiro showed what he does best and that is his brute strength and it does him well for the most part. Tanahashi is Tanahashi and there is nothing wrong with that.
The feud coming from this is obviously Goto vs. Naito which will see them facing off on 2/20. Goto is looking to finally get the IWGP belt around his waist here soon and if he has it his way that is going to happen and no one is going to stop him. Though Naito is a current road block, Goto is looking to beat the young talent and go for the top. (7) #1 ContenderIWGP Heavyweight Challenger Match: Togi Makabe vs. Satoshi Kojima~ Coming off Tanahashi winning the IWGP belt there needs to be a next challenger. Makabe and Tanahashi have a past and Kojima believes he is over Makabe. So these two were booked to face to see who would go after Tanahashi next.
Definitely the best match of the show and played out well. Kojima is definitely building his “Army” around him and they see like they are going to become the new thorn in the sides of anyone they face, whether they end up winning or losing.
Both of these men are brawlers so you can guess at what type of match is going to play out, but it works for these two and it was a good battle.
I will be putting this match on my “recommended list of 2011” and you can also go there to see how I scored it on the scale.

All in all an alright show, definitely more of a setup show than anything, so maybe not the highest caliber of matches, but still a fun show. I would definitely say to watch this before the 2/20 Sendai show just so you see what is playing out in order of happening.

NOAH News: Most of the card has finally been added to the 3/5 “GREAT VOYAGE 2011 in Tokyo” show. This is all following the 2/16 show which saw a few challenges made and as you can see below the matches have been signed to indeed happen. Namely in which Taniguchi pinned Sano in a 6 Man Tag and in which Sano wanted a rematch. This remat…ch will happen and for the GHC Tag Belts on the line.
Speaking of belts, all the GHC belts will be on the line and I cannot recall the last time they have all been set to be defended on the same show. It has been a while now.

MVP has landed in Japan and he is read for his debut match in NJPW on 2/20.
If a lot of you do not care about what MVP has done in the WWE, even MVP says he was limited to what he could do and Japan is a whole new ballpark. In Japan he is going to be free to open himself up and show what he has to offer.
MVP is all about respect and i…s grateful for being in Japan and being able to be in the ring. It should also be noted that MVP has his eyes on Tanahashi and the IWGP belt, that is if Tanahashi remains champion following the 2/20 match against Kojima.
MVP will also be representing NJPW when they come to the USA for the 3 day tour, and would also like to have his name thrown into the hat at a shot of being the first IWGP Intercontinental champion.
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Former wrestler SUWA, real name Takahiro Suwa, made an appearance at last nights Zero1 show and announced that he is now an official sanctioned NWA Referee.
From what I gather he will be the referee for the NWA Lightheavyweight Tag Team Title match between the champions Takuya Sugawara & Kaijin Hubu Otoko vs. Minoru Fujita & Mineo Fujita.

Following his successful defense over KAMIKAZE, Daisuke Sekimoto will be without much of a break as he will be facing Ryouji Sai come the 3/6 show.

Also there is another match that was to be announced today and that was to be involving IGF wrestler Atsushi Sawada facing against Kohei Sato, but due to complications Sawada did not appear at the conference and the match maybe reported later.

It was announced today that Kazushi Miyamoto will be returning on 3/6. Miyamato spent the early part of his career in All Japan but in 2005 left All Japan and became a freelance wrestler. He competed in Z1 and a few other promotions and even competed in the states as The Great Kazushi.
Another match that has been added to the card that is getting some press is that Minoru Suzuki and KAI will be facing each other one on one come the 3/6 show. They have faced before in single matches, but what makes this different is that KAI feels that he can finally prove himself to beat Suzuki, or at least show that he is no longer to be taken lightly.
Be sure to check out the earlier post for All Japan happenings:http://www.pwponderings.com/puroresuspirit/2011/02/14/all-japan-news-for-feb-14th-2011/